Protection in the Eye of the Beholder
by SarahJeanne7
Summary: Prompt: Felicity raised an eyebrow. "Are you cop types allowed to flirt with me while you're questioning me for a crime? Okay, this is another one that got way out of control and didn't go at all how I think the prompt originally meant it to. But I really just use them as a line to get me started. This one was fun for me so I really hope you enjoy it! Olicity and Merlance!


_**Yup, I'm back again! I'm ahead of the game with all of my writing jobs and I am feeling the prompt vibe! I'll see if I can try not to let this one get out of control like the others have been so far! Thank you to everyone who sticks with me!**_

 _Prompt: Felicity raised an eyebrow. "Are you cop types allowed to flirt with me while you're questioning me for a crime?"_

 _ **So I was going to have Oliver be a cop, but I just wasn't down for that. Not this time around, anyway. So we're just going to do something a little different. Hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing! Oliver and Felicity are an established couple, as are Merlance!**_

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Arrow or any of it's characters or anything else that is or may be affiliated with it or them. This story is for entertainment purposes only.**

 **Protection in the Eye of the Beholder**

"Well, if you are innocent, we'll find out soon enough. I truly hope that you are. Then maybe you and I can grab dinner later. Head back to your place. Have a little fun." The young cop spoke arrogantly as he stroked Felicity's cuffed hands. If she could smack him, she would.

"Are you cop types allowed to flirt with me while you're questioning me for a crime? Cause I'm pretty sure you aren't" Felicity spoke with some snark. The young cop pulled away with cold eyes.

"I'm not a cop type. I'm an officer of the law. And you would do well to remember that." He puffed his chest out as he spoke, giving Felicity a better view of his badge.

"Well, Mr. Chambers, maybe I would remember your position as an officer of the law if you didn't use your power as an opportunity to hit on me." Felicity spoke with a glare.

Felicity regretted opening her mouth as soon as she felt her cuffs released from the table and Officer Chambers yanked her out of her chair. Felicity resisted the urge to make one single noise from the pain in her wrists as he hauled her around.  
"What the hell are you doing?" Felicity tried to speak with authority.

"Placing you in a cell. Maybe some of our other law breakers will change your attitude. Friendly warning, there are some mean drunks in there tonight." Chambers spoke viciously.  
"You can't do that!" Felicity said as she tried to pull away from his much stronger grip.  
"I can, actually. For forty eight hours." Chambers smirked as he practically threw her into a cell with two other men. He had removed her cuffs, locked the door, and walked away before Felicity could even process what happened. Felicity turned slowly, looking at the two men who were observing her with clear interest on their faces.

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"Laurel, we're kind of in a hurry." Oliver growled at the DA.

"Oliver, I'm working on it. Dad is pushing the paperwork through as quickly as he can." Laurel tried to reassure him.  
"She didn't even do anything wrong!" Oliver barely resisted the urge to scream in the precinct.

"Oliver, I know that. We are going to get her out." Laurel spoke calmly.

"How did this even happen?" Tommy spoke up for the first time since Oliver had grabbed them from their apartment.

"I don't know." Oliver sighed out.

"Well, you must know something." Laurel prodded.

"Felicity was pulling a job for Ray Palmer. She was getting suspicious after she looked into a few of his accounts. She confronted him, and he told her what he was doing. Using company funds to build some kind of suit. He wanted to be a vigilante and enforce his own brand of justice on Starling City." Oliver admitted quietly.

"Should we be happy or upset that you're inspiring people?" Tommy asked with a tilt of his head.

"Tommy." Laurel spoke with a glare.

"Anyway, he wanted Felicity's help. She declined, for obvious reasons. So he told her that if she wasn't going to help, then he was going to have to get her out of his way. She called and told me all this as she was on her way out of the building. I was rushing to get to her. But by the time I got to Palmer Industries, Felicity was being arrested. So whatever these charges are, they are because of Ray Palmer." Oliver told Laurel honestly.

"I understand, Oliver. We'll fix this. I promise." Laurel spoke with a soft smile.

The three of them looked up as Captain Lance approached them. Oliver met the man half way across the precinct.

"Well? Where is she?" Oliver demanded.

"She's been taken back to holding. I am on my way to grab her now." Lance spoke with a calming hand to Oliver's chest.

"Why the hell was she taken to holding?" Laurel asked angrily as they fell into step with her father on the way back to the cells.

"I don't know, but I assure you, I'm damn well going to find out." Lance replied angrily as he picked up his pace.

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"Listen, I've had a really shitty day. So let's just not do this, okay?" Felicity told the two clearly drunk men before they could say anything to her.

"Come on, gorgeous. We were just talking about how bored we are in here." The man closest to her spoke. His words were so slurred, it took Felicity a moment to understand what he had said.

"Yeah, well maybe you should just try and sleep off the bender you've clearly been on." Felicity answered with agitation. She really wasn't in the mood for this crap right now.

"Hey, now. Why are you being so prickly?" The second man had moved closer to her and on her left. The two men were clearly trying to box her in. Felicity had already had enough and her temper had long since been triggered.

Before any more words could be spoken, Felicity launched herself at the man closest to her and drove the heel of her hand up, making solid contact with his nose. She felt instant gratification as blood immediately began spurting from it. The drunk man stumbled back and fell on his ass, clutching his nose with both hands, obviously in pain. Felicity hoped she had broken it and it would be crooked forever. Before she could bask in her victory, she felt her hair pulled from behind. Felicity immediately twisted her body and struck out at the second man. He clearly wasn't as drunk as his friend, as he was able to just barely dodge the knee that had been aiming for his family jewels. Felicity recovered from the failed attempt quickly, bringing her right fist around to plow into the man's cheek. This time, his recovery wasn't as quick as he fell back into the cell bars. Felicity yanked her hair out of his grasp and didn't see his responding left hook. But she sure felt it as it hit her left cheek hard enough to throw her head to the side. Instead of pain, all Felicity could feel was more anger as she licked the corner of her mouth, tasting blood. She spit at the man's feet and the two of them went after each other once more.

Felicity couldn't have told you how many hits either her or the drunk got in, but she knew she had hit him more than he had her. As they backed away from each other once more, the cell door was yanked open. Felicity turned to look, hoping to see Captain Lance, or better yet Oliver. But she was disappointed at the sight of Officer Chambers. She hung her head in defeat, as she knew he would use this as a way to hold her longer. Great.

"Well, Ms. Smoak. Seems you can't be around others. Problems playing nice?" Chambers asked haughtily, with no regard to the clear bruising making itself known on her face or the split and bleeding lip.

"I never did play well with others. But maybe you and I could give it a try?" Felicity asked as she gave the cop a slight smirk.

"Yeah, no thanks. But I do think you've just given me grounds to arrest you for assault and battery." Chambers smirked right back.  
"What?! He and his little friend came at me first! And if you hadn't wrongfully put me in here in the first place, none of this would have happened! Just wait until the Captain and the DA get a hold of you. Not to mention Oliver. You're as is grass!" Felicity ranted as Chambers pulled the cuffs off his belt. Felicity didn't get to say anymore as Chambers pushed her against the bars much rougher than was necessary. Felicity couldn't help the grunt of pain with the impact to the cell.

Of course this was when Oliver decided to make his way into the room, trailing on the heels of Captain Lance, Tommy and Laurel. Felicity couldn't help the smile.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Oliver heard yelling in a voice that he knew to be Felicity's. Whatever was happening back in holding, Felicity was certainly giving them a tongue lashing. The thought brought a slight smirk to Oliver's face and he thought about how it was nothing compared to the hell he was going to bring down on this precinct. As they walked into the room, the smile couldn't have fallen from Oliver's face any quicker. The sight of a bruised and bloody Felicity being roughly shoved against the bars of a cell as her arms were yanked behind her back had Oliver charging before thinking.

Oliver rounded the open cell door and punched the supposed officer as hard as he could. He felt a miniscule amount of satisfaction as the man hit the concrete floor with a resounding thud. Oliver looked at the other two occupants of the cell, daring them to make a move. If anything, they seemed to shrink back away from him further. Oliver paid them no more attention as he gently turned Felicity around and took stock of the damage.

Lance rounded around the cell behind Oliver as Laurel stood in shock and anger while simultaneously holding Tommy at bay. Lance picked the officer up off the ground and this time it was his face being shoved into the wall. His arms being yanked behind his back and cuffed by the Captain.

"I don't know what the hell happened in here. I don't much care. But you are done. And you're going to pay for putting your hands on what belongs to Oliver Queen. Trust me, he isn't a man you want to be on the wrong side of." Lance whispered in the man's ear as he dragged him out, calling for more officers form the main room.

"Felicity, my god. Are you alright?" Laurel asked as she seemed to shake herself from a daze.

"Yeah. I had it handled. But I'm not too proud to admit, I am happy you guys came along when you did." Felicity admitted as she pushed Oliver's hands off her shoulders so she could snuggle into him. They stayed that way for a few minutes until Felicity realized that Oliver hadn't said a word. And while he was generally a very quiet man, she knew something wasn't right.

"Oliver?" Felicity asked as she pulled her head from where it was resting on his chest to look him in the eyes. Eyes that were blazing with anger.

"Oliver, what do you want to do, man?" Tommy questioned from next to Laurel.

"Kill him." Was Oliver's terse response.

"He isn't even the one who hit me. Besides, you don't do that anymore, remember?" Felicity reminded him gently.  
"What do you mean he wasn't the one?" Tommy asked angrily as he eyed the other two still cowering men in the cell.

"Those two thought we could have a good time. I think we accomplished that." Felicity said with a smirk.

"This isn't funny, Felicity." Oliver told her as he stared at her in shock.

"If I don't laugh about it, I'll freak out. I was almost just arrested! I mean, I was arrested. But I wasn't really worried about it at first. Then Chambers put me in here and those two dumbasses wanted to… And I just had a really bad day. I may have let my anger get the better of me." Felicity said quietly.

"You? You did that to them? Damn, Smoak, you are such a badass!" Tommy said with a laugh and Laurel smacked him in the chest. They all turned as Lance made his way back into the room. He gestured for Felicity and Oliver to exit the cell and locked it back up behind them, with a meaningful glare sent to the other two occupants. He turned and cupped Felicity's face in one of his hands gently.

"You all right?" The man asked gruffly.

"I am. It's just bruises. I fought for myself." Felicity explained proudly.  
"I'm sorry about this Felicity. I was out on a call, or it never would have happened. I got here as quick as I could. I'm just sorry." The older man seemed deflated.

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault. I am pretty sure it was Ray Palmer's. So if you wanted to make it up to me you could go look into his financials and have him arrested. Not that you have anything to make up to me! Because you don't! I don't blame you for anything! I'm just saying I think we can put the blame on him." Felicity babbled as Oliver pulled her to him tighter, his body tight with tension.

"I'll get on it now. Nicely done, Felicity. I'm sorry you had to go through this." Laurel spoke with determination and a light touch to Felicity's arm.

"I'll help her." Tommy said as he leaned forward and kissed Felicity's forehead before walking out with his fiancee.

"You two can go on home. Don't worry about anything else tonight. And I understand that you've gotta do what you gotta do, Queen. It's clearly well deserved." Lance spoke softly as he gripped Felicity's shoulder and walked out of the room.

Oliver pushed Felicity away from him and once again looked at her face. She had a split and bleeding lip and the makings of a black eye. Another bruise was also appearing on her left cheek. But if Oliver was being clinically honest, she really didn't look that bad. But as the man who loved her, Oliver didn't do well with being clinically honest. He gently brushed stray hair behind her ear and gave her a soft smile.

"I'm okay. I promise. I just want to go home." Felicity whispered.  
"Whatever you want, sweetheart." Oliver responded as he pulled her into his side and the two of them left the precinct.

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A few hours later had Oliver once again changing the ice pack out on Felicity's face and making sure the blanket over her was covering all of her.

"You know what would really warm me up?" Felicity asked coyly.

"Some coffee? I don't think you should have the caffeine right now. But I can make you some hot chocolate if you want?" Oliver asked, completely oblivious to Felicity's advances.

"What will warm me up, is you. You big dork." Felicity said with a light laugh.  
"Oh. Well, I can probably arrange that too." Oliver smiled as he situated himself on the couch behind her, holding her tightly to him.

They hadn't been settled more than five minutes when Oliver's phone began to ring. He shifted the two of them so he could grab it out of his back pocket.

"Yeah?" He answered gruffly. Felicity didn't particularly care if it was an important call at all, she just wanted to snuggle in her boyfriend's arms and sleep everything away. She must have dozed off for a few minutes, because when she opened her eyes, Oliver was shifting them once again so he could put his phone back in his pocket.

"What was that?" Felicity asked, her voice rough.

"Tommy. He and Laurel found the embezzling in Palmer's company fairly quickly and headed over with a warrant. Ray's in custody and we won't have to worry about him for quite some time. With me around, you won't have to worry about him ever again." Oliver added the last part possessively.

"Mmm, then I guess I'll just have to keep you." Felicity said with a teasing smirk.  
"You couldn't get rid of me if you tried." Oliver responded in kind.

"What else? Tommy isn't known for quick conversations, and I know I fell asleep." Felicity continued.

"Tommy and Laurel called Digg and Lyla and told them everything that happened. They'll be over in the morning to check on you. And Quentin took care of Chambers. I don't know exactly what that means and I don't care. I trust Quentin and if he says he took care of it, then I believe it's taken care of." Oliver spoke finally.

"Does this mean you aren't going to take your anger out on the precinct?" Felicity asked.

"As much as I think it would make me feel better, I can't and won't do that to Lance. It wasn't his fault and he clearly feels guilty about the whole thing. We all do. Me especially." Oliver said quietly.

"Oliver, it isn't your job to protect me. Especially since I did a pretty damn good job of protecting myself." Felicity said with a lift of her chin.

"That you did. But it will always be my job to protect you, Felicity. It's just the way I feel. I love you, and someday soon you're going to be my wife and the mother of my children. So get used to the feeling, because I'm always going to want to protect you." Oliver said vehemently.

"I love you too, Oliver. But I hope that wasn't your idea of a proposal. I want to be bruise free and surrounded by our friends and family when you propose. And you damn well better be on bended knee, mister." Felicity said as she snuggled into him deeper.

"You got it, Felicity." Oliver chuckled as he tightened his arms around her.

 _ **Yeah, I'm pretty sure this was literally nothing like the intended prompt was for. I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be cutesy and Oliver was supposed to be cop like and whatnot. But I just couldn't do it. I love when Felicity kicks ass and I love protective Oliver. I also love Merlance and Quentin too. It's cool if you don't, but that's just how I am. So, I hoped you enjoyed reading this, even though I once again got out of control with it. And don't worry, I still have quite a few prompts to get together! Thank you once again for all of your support. I wouldn't be writing anything without it!**_


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